Jim Yates - Posted - 02/19/2012:  10:55:27

What was the first mandolin that you owned? 

When I was in high school in the mid '60s, a friend came by and said,"Have you seen the instrument at the We Buy Sell Anything Joint?  It says C.F.Martin on the back of the peg-head."  I ran down and gave the guy $20 for a 1918 Brazilian bowl backed mandolin.  I learned a few tunes from the Kweskin Jug Band album, but never really took it seriously till about 1972 when I bought an Ibanez A-style. 

Woodman - Posted - 02/19/2012:  11:25:33

I decided the only way I could afford one was to build it so I looked to see if Amazon had a book on the subject. They did, more than one, starting around $35. They also had a Rogue for $49.99 with a lot of user reviews mostly saying "You won't believe how good this is for the money!" Fifty bucks sounded about as cheap a way as there is to see if I would like mandolin. I did!

I was also very pleased and having a good time with it until the day I asked my teacher if I could try his. You can guess the rest. Within a couple of weeks I'd found a Michael Kelly factory second for near half price. The Rogue is now the banger I keep at the shop for those times random play on the mp3 player makes me pull it out of the case. I've since gotten a Trinity College octave, and now lust after practically every other mandolin I see. Don't know if it's an addiction or an affliction, but I've got it bad.

Edited by - Woodman on 02/19/2012 11:26:52

Joe Mangio - Posted - 02/19/2012:  12:06:50

An old oval hole A style Harmony from the 60's or 70's that I took posession of when my Mother passed back in '93; I sold it for 50 bucks in '09.
Plucked away on it till I bought a new F 9 in '02, then in '03 picked up a Johnson MA-120 A style for a beater, a real bargain at $150.
I play both the F 9 and the 120.

TI_USER - Posted - 02/19/2012:  12:36:20

My first mandolin was a 1924 Gibson A model Snakehead.  I bought it for $325 in a vintage music store in my home town.  I have played several other vintage A models since and to this day, that one I owned is the best sounding I have played.  I played that Gibson for 9 years before I got my first F model, which was a Kentucky KM-850.  I was thrilled to get a F model because I thought I had moved up to the "big time".  On hindsight, the Gibson was a much better mandolin, but I didn't know any better at the time.

TI_USER - Posted - 02/19/2012:  12:38:28

quote:

---

Originally posted by Woodman

 ...and now lust after practically every other mandolin I see. Don't know if it's an addiction or an affliction, but I've got it bad.

---

Over on the Mandolin Cafe, they call MAS (Mandolin Acquisition Syndrome).  THERE IS NO CURE!!!

Edited by - TI_USER on 02/19/2012 12:39:05

Tomm - Posted - 02/20/2012:  10:46:31

Kentucky 630

Jim Yates - Posted - 02/20/2012:  11:22:33

quote:

---

Originally posted by TI_USER

quote:

---

Originally posted by Woodman

 ...and now lust after practically every other mandolin I see. Don't know if it's an addiction or an affliction, but I've got it bad.

---

Over on the Mandolin Cafe, they call MAS (Mandolin Acquisition Syndrome).  THERE IS NO CURE!!!

---

MAS is certainly not confined to the Cafe.  It appears here quite frequently and is closely related to GAS (See Flatpicker Hangout) and BAS (See Banjo Hangout) and UAS (See Ukulele Social Club)...but TI_USER is right.  It`s incurable.

mojohand40 - Posted - 02/20/2012:  12:20:39

My first was a "Franciscan"  A-model. Natural finish. It wasn't horrible, actually.

I ended up giving it away years ago.

I haven't seen a lot of Franciscan brand instruments, but I do still own a Franciscan banjo.

Ben Venuti - Posted - 02/20/2012:  13:22:05

I think maybe a combination of a Loar signed Gibson, a Dudenbostle,a Gilchrist, an Ellis ,an Altman and Lawrence Smart taken with a good dose of Montelioni and a Giacomel chaser might be a cure. Let's try an experiment!! Everyone send me all your money and I'll try it on myself and tell you how it works out! Good idea? I think so! I am willing to sacrifice myself for you all!
My first mandolin was a '27 A-0--- beat but sounded good--- much more beat now but it still sounds good!

mandoteacher - Posted - 02/20/2012:  14:03:15

In 1980, I purchased a Kentucky A-style mandolin from the Fretted Instrument Workshop in Amherst, MA. I used that until 1997 when I purchased a used Flatiron F5 from a buddy in Bozeman, MT. I went through some tough financial times a few years back (divorce) and sold all of my stuff except a family fiddle and an old Yamaha guitar. I've slowly been restocking. Now I play an F5 mandolin I bought off an inlay trader from Vietnam a couple years ago. I like it better than my Flatiron.

I had the opportunity to play on a Loar 520 for a couple weeks. Sweet mandolin! I'd like to try out one of their higher end models one of these days.

Muscle Tone - Posted - 02/23/2012:  11:47:06

My first mando was a Dixon A-model oval hole that my dad bought in the late '80s.

Tomm - Posted - 02/24/2012:  04:01:44

As we learn more most of us I'd guess also "move up" as our playing progresses, so what are you playing now?

mojohand40 - Posted - 02/24/2012:  06:45:05

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tomm

As we learn more most of us I'd guess also "move up" as our playing progresses, so what are you playing now?

---

well..I got a Eastman MD 515 that I really like. I expect I'll be playing it for years, no real need to move up for me in the near future. I get gas (gear aquisition syndrome) and own wayyyyy to many instruments. But for mandolin , I have my Eastman and I still have a old, cheap Epiphone A style for a "Travel" beater, second, back-up whatever...so I feel pretty covered.

However, I have been looking at getting either a oval hole or a little nicer A style... just for grins and variety...but I think I'll hold off until next year.

Ben Venuti - Posted - 02/24/2012:  08:14:32

I had a teacher once years ago that had an early Givens. I do like the clean lines of an A model and when I played a mandolin that had the qualities of an F5 but wasn't I was sold. A MM type A5 is quite common now but until Given's did it there was no such thing, well one such thing which Givens had access to. I took me many years but I did finally get my Given's and it was worth the wait.

Jim Yates - Posted - 02/24/2012:  09:12:15

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ben Venuti

I had a teacher once years ago that had an early Givens. I do like the clean lines of an A model and when I played a mandolin that had the qualities of an F5 but wasn't I was sold. A MM type A5 is quite common now but until Given's did it there was no such thing, well one such thing which Givens had access to. I took me many years but I did finally get my Given's and it was worth the wait.

---

What qualities do you mean Ben.  I agree that I like the appearance of an A model, but that F4 on the main page of the Mandolin Hangout is a sweet looking mandolin.  As far as sound goes, I've never been convinced that, all things being equal, there is any advantage to an F model.

Tomm - Posted - 02/24/2012:  10:03:00

I think the two best sounding mandolins I've actually played....one was an A (can't remember the builder), the other a Hutto F style. Both incredible instruments.

Ben Venuti - Posted - 02/24/2012:  23:12:54

Longer scale neck, raised fret board, f holes as opposed to an oval hole. (An F holed mandolin definitely projects differently than an oval hole.) Tone bars as opposed to a single brace below the sound hole. Slimmer faster more playable neck. You have to remember back in the day there was Gibson or there was nothing and somehow, incredibly, at that time Gibson had forgotten how to make a good mandolin, they did, however, remember how to charge. No one made what people think of now as an "A" model until Givens disassembled the Mrs Griffith A5 ( the only A5 that Gibson ever made) and began producing them. He also improved on the design to make it have the same internal construction as a Loar signature F5 which apparently ,from what I've read,the Griffith does not. Givens is the one that worked it out and now everyone makes them ,but until he did it nobody did. The first radiused fret board I ever saw on a mandolin was on a Givens.

An F1,2 or 4 isn't much different than a A model from the same era, which I had and still have. They sound and play remarkably similar. The F5 was a very different animal and sonically is clearly different. Both are good, but different, and I like them both for different reasons. Some people play oval holed mandolins to great effect and I am one of the first to defend oval holed mandolins as suitable for bluegrass. Many people make the claim that oval holed mandolins are no good for bluegrass and my favorite counter to that is Red Rector and all the old Jimmy Martin stuff. The truth is though that most professional mandolin players today tend to favor f holed ,Loar copied mandolins with a scroll, an "F", or without, an "A'.

Edited by - Ben Venuti on 02/24/2012 23:23:38

mandolin boy - Posted - 02/25/2012:  04:56:21

Mine was an epiphone mm30 then a year later a eastman md 615 I got off craigslist for 300$, then i got my grandpaws 1972 Gibson f12, then my dad traded a guitar (Martin) for a dearstone..... Well and here we are today.

Inept - Posted - 02/25/2012:  08:09:12

My first mando was a Kentucky KM1000. I had never played a note on the mandolin when I traded a guitar for it. The store only had two mandolins worth more than the guitar the Kentucky and a Weber Yellowstone. I went for the Kentucky because it was cheaper. I later traded it for a Martin guitar. Subsequently traded the guitar for an inferior mandolin which I still have and loathe (would love to sell it, but to date have had no takers). I wish I had that KM 1000 still...........................

Muscle Tone - Posted - 02/25/2012:  19:14:09

I have played two different mandolins since the Dixon. In 2005 my dad purchased a Johnson MF-100 mandolin which I played a heavy amount of gigs with when I was a member of a local band from around my area. After leaving the band I kind of quit playing the mandolin on a regular basis, but then I got serious about it again, so Christmas of 2010 I received a Johnson MA-100 (A-model version of the MF-100.) That is currently my main mandolin. I still have the MF-100 and the Dixon. I keep those two mandolins at my dad and step-mom's house. The Dixon has become unplayable so I no longer use that one, but I occasionally play the MF-100.

Mandolin Ant - Posted - 02/28/2012:  06:57:04

The one I'm playing now. Morgan Monroe MM100 SB/E. MAS is getting to me though and I'm about to get another one. Not sure which one yet, but I am looking...

bigbike4 - Posted - 03/04/2012:  13:04:31

My first is an old mandolin banjo, and my second is an old "A" style clone.  I got into mandolin playing because I collect everything banjo and banjo related.  Then heard and saw Amy Ray playing mando and she looked like she was having a blast.  My opinion of the mandolin before that was an instrument tailored to people who like tinny sounding things and like to complain that they were not heard above the guitars and banjos in a group.  I have since changed my mind and am starting to learn quite a lot about playing (and getting along well with others-<grin>)

Terry Allan Hall - Posted - 03/14/2012:  17:46:29

My 1st was a WARD, which I now think was made by Kay, in Chicago, back in the 50s and sold through Montgomery Ward...my grandfather found it somewhere and that's what I learned on...after it got stolen, I replaced it w/ a Kentucky "Army/Navy" model, then a hand-made oval-holed mandolin made by a local fiddle-maker.

terryallanhall.com/mandolin.jpg

[[[[Sadly, that one was stolen a few months ago, so now I'm playing two, a Rogue cheapy that I put a P-90 pickup into (which has since been dubbed "The Poorman's EM150" by a picking buddy, which is a surprising nice electric mandolin, although only an adequate acoustic.

images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/...6ab16f56a 

And, to fill my acoustic mando needs, I should be recieving a Gold Tone GM50 tomorrow...got a good deal on a used one, and it'll work for me until I can afford a Gibson F4 (my Golden Idol mando!)

Edited by - Terry Allan Hall on 03/14/2012 17:48:54

TI_USER - Posted - 03/14/2012:  18:52:59

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ben Venuti

Some people play oval holed mandolins to great effect and I am one of the first to defend oval holed mandolins as suitable for bluegrass. Many people make the claim that oval holed mandolins are no good for bluegrass and my favorite counter to that is Red Rector and all the old Jimmy Martin stuff.

---

I agree wholeheartedly!  I've heard some outstanding oval hole mandolins used in Bluegrass.  I played a '24 A Snakehead for 9 years in a hard driving Bluegrass band.  I eventually bought a F model because I thought that was the thing to do.  The Gibson A was a better sounding mandolin by far.  Lately, I've had a real itch to get another oval hole mando, even if it's a cheap one.

mandogryl - Posted - 03/16/2012:  09:00:48

My first mandolin was one of my own making. I think it is in Florida somewhere.

Ben Venuti - Posted - 03/16/2012:  16:34:28

quote:

---

Originally posted by TI_USER

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ben Venuti

Some people play oval holed mandolins to great effect and I am one of the first to defend oval holed mandolins as suitable for bluegrass. Many people make the claim that oval holed mandolins are no good for bluegrass and my favorite counter to that is Red Rector and all the old Jimmy Martin stuff.

---

I agree wholeheartedly!  I've heard some outstanding oval hole mandolins used in Bluegrass.  I played a '24 A Snakehead for 9 years in a hard driving Bluegrass band.  I eventually bought a F model because I thought that was the thing to do.  The Gibson A was a better sounding mandolin by far.  Lately, I've had a real itch to get another oval hole mando, even if it's a cheap one.

---

It's been a long time since vintage A model Gibson's were as cheap as they are right now. If you factor in inflation (like what you paid for bread or gasoline say 10 years ago compared to now) it's even cheaper than it appears. I personally think the ones from the 20's have a leg up on the earlier ones, but they're all good. Everyday new ones pop up on ebay and rarely do they pass the $1000 mark, some nice ones sell in the $600 range. It doesn't matter which model, an A-0 or an A-4 -- they can be equal in tone and playability. You'll pay more for a snakehead and not necessarily get a better mandolin than a paddlehead and a jr. or "0" model may not have a truss rod but if it's straight after nearly 90 years where's it gonna go? I think anyone that spends a grand or more for a pacrim mandolin when they could buy a vintage Gibson with that funky old smell and that beautiful tone is really missing out on something. You should shake out the piggybank while this total flop on vintage instrument prices is going on and get yourself one while the gettins' good!

MiG-19 - Posted - 03/17/2012:  01:09:11

Kentucky KM-1000

willie shepherd - Posted - 03/17/2012:  20:57:54

My first mandolin was a Morgan Monroe MM8 with the satin finish.

willie shepherd - Posted - 03/17/2012:  21:01:28

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tomm

As we learn more most of us I'd guess also "move up" as our playing progresses, so what are you playing now?

 

 

(Weber Yellowstone Custom Deluxe)

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JMalmsteen - Posted - 03/20/2012:  16:01:41

Kentucky, since by default, this was the only F style mandolin that Stan had at Mandolin Brothers that was under a grand!

Edited by - JMalmsteen on 03/20/2012 16:02:48

Terry Allan Hall - Posted - 03/23/2012:  03:18:44

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ben Venuti

quote:

---

Originally posted by TI_USER

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ben Venuti

Some people play oval holed mandolins to great effect and I am one of the first to defend oval holed mandolins as suitable for bluegrass. Many people make the claim that oval holed mandolins are no good for bluegrass and my favorite counter to that is Red Rector and all the old Jimmy Martin stuff.

---

I agree wholeheartedly!  I've heard some outstanding oval hole mandolins used in Bluegrass.  I played a '24 A Snakehead for 9 years in a hard driving Bluegrass band.  I eventually bought a F model because I thought that was the thing to do.  The Gibson A was a better sounding mandolin by far.  Lately, I've had a real itch to get another oval hole mando, even if it's a cheap one.

---

It's been a long time since vintage A model Gibson's were as cheap as they are right now. If you factor in inflation (like what you paid for bread or gasoline say 10 years ago compared to now) it's even cheaper than it appears. I personally think the ones from the 20's have a leg up on the earlier ones, but they're all good. Everyday new ones pop up on ebay and rarely do they pass the $1000 mark, some nice ones sell in the $600 range. It doesn't matter which model, an A-0 or an A-4 -- they can be equal in tone and playability. You'll pay more for a snakehead and not necessarily get a better mandolin than a paddlehead and a jr. or "0" model may not have a truss rod but if it's straight after nearly 90 years where's it gonna go? I think anyone that spends a grand or more for a pacrim mandolin when they could buy a vintage Gibson with that funky old smell and that beautiful tone is really missing out on something. You should shake out the piggybank while this total flop on vintage instrument prices is going on and get yourself one while the gettins' good!

---

 Absolute agreement...I prefer the sound of a oval-holed mando above that of an f-holed one....sweeter, fuller tone!

And, yeah, right now even F2s and F4s (and clones thereof) are going for much more reasonable prices that the equivalent f-holed versions...

How sweet it is! 

countrydirt - Posted - 03/25/2012:  06:46:11

On a Sunday about 4 years ago, 3 of us got together to work up a song or two for church. Between the 3 of us, we had 24 acoustic guitar strings. We realized that we needed a little diversity in order to make much of a bluegrass sound and since the guy with half of the guitar strings was a much better banjo player than me, I said i would find a mandolin. So I plopped $50 onto ebay and bought an "Old Hickory."

I could actually see where the laminated top was slightly separating fresh from the warehouse, but, I was able to tune that rude and crude thing up and learn G, D, C, A and E chords and was set. Within 3 weeks I moved up to an Ibanez 522(?) and then to a Bean Blossom - forgot the now Morgan Monroe equivalent - which now lives with my son in New Orleans. I now am playing a Kentucky KM-172.

Edited by - countrydirt on 03/25/2012 06:47:07

Terry Allan Hall - Posted - 03/25/2012:  09:23:09

Wow...have gotten quite a few messages that my initial mandolin, the "Ward", was not a Kay but a product of Gibson (one of their "backdoor" brands, I'm told)...wish I still had it and had respected it more when I did!

Edited by - Terry Allan Hall on 03/25/2012 09:23:56

John Adrihan - Posted - 04/01/2012:  06:24:59

I started with a 40's kay that was a real nice one but it needed some fret work. Had a Shawnee Creek for about 2 days. Bought a Loar LM400, loved it, but the fingerboard binding cracked, sent it back receied a warranteed replacement, was a better looker but did not sound as good. Sod it. Bought a KM1000 :) still have it. Also now have a LaPlant.

mrbook - Posted - 04/07/2012:  18:01:12

When I was in 8th grade, around 1966, my shop teacher gave me an old bowlback with a broken top to fix as a woodworking project (betterthan making a shelf). I spent a few weeks putting on a new top, transferring the soundhole bindings and even the old pickguard to the new top, and bracing the back like the old one. Not back for a kid, and I quickly learned "Woody's Rag" and a few other tunes. However, the wood was not instrument wood (the shop teacher didn't know) and when the weather changed, I woke up one morning to find the top had shrunk about 1/4" in every direction. Upset and angry, I damaged the top and put the instrument in the basement - where I later discovered the top back to its origianl size, but ruined by my vandalism. It was a good month of playing, though.

In the early 70s, I was walking down a street in Albany, NY, where I walked into a pawn shop and saw one mandolin hanging up near rhe ceiling. I asked the price, adn when the guy said $20 I handed him the money before he even got it down. It was a no-name flat top A like a Martin, but all mahogany (even the top) with brass binding on the top edge (attached with small brass spikes). Nice instrument, and I played it for a few years.

It wasn't for bluegrass, and I foolishly sold it a few years later after getting a Pan copy of a 60s Gibson A-5. Seemed great when I got it, but in 1981 I built one from aStew-Mac kit that I still have today. Lots more have come and gone in later years, too.

coelhoe - Posted - 04/08/2012:  09:37:09

An A-2 Gibson, black, that I bought from a pawn shop in Boise for $80 in '66. Later sold it and got a Gibson F-2. That went away during a hard time. Later, a Gibson A-50, then a '72 Gibson (looked pretty, sounded awful). Sold the F-5, then in '84 got a Flatiron A-5 (2) direct from Carlson and used that until a couple of months ago. Just time for a change. Now, I'm just looking around. Got an '87 Flatiron Performer to tide me over.

Bought an older Weber Absaroka oval off eBay last week. Slightly damaged, So I'm going to take up it to Weber in Montana next month and look at repair and some mods.. It arrives tomorrow, so we'll see. Lots of mandos for sale it seems. Kind of fun to be watching for a great deal. No rush.

Leopold Cat - Posted - 07/16/2012:  08:33:11

My first mandolin was a stella. Since then Ive owned a few and wonder how I ever played old stella.

nighttripper - Posted - 07/27/2012:  11:44:37

Hey all, this is my first post on this lovely forum. My first mandolin was a Fender acoustic-electric A-style that my older brother left at home when he went off to college. I saw a brochure for local lessons and figured "why not?" Eventually I got a Rover F-style which is pretty decent, and played in a band for a while during my first semester at college. I sold the Fender and I don't miss it. Currently having some "M.A.S." for a nice oval-hole A-style. :)

Kristibob - Posted - 10/16/2012:  19:45:03

My first mandolin was a Rover RM50 Player Series A-model - a great starter..solid spruce top, solid maple back and sides...nice voice..really warm..and found a great "bundle" when I got her. I didn't have her set-up - so she doesn't sound as good as she could...will get it done one day soon.  My new mandolin that I've had for several days is a Bon Air F Model I purchased from Guitar Works in Richmond, Virginia.  Brian, at the shop, did an incredible set-up on her for me and she just about plays herself. She is the one in my picture...and I made the quilt she's sitting in front of...like that matters...lol...I'm a real beginner, but I've gotten lucky with two nice little mandolins.  I'll never afford the "big" name on the headstock, but I'm delighted to have the instruments I have and I'm enjoying learning the mandolin SO much.

mrbook - Posted - 10/22/2012:  12:26:09

I was given an old bowlback as a kid in 8th grade by my wood shop teacher - he said I could fix it as a project and keep it. He gave me a piece of wood for the top, and I worked on it a few months, cutting the soundholes like the old one and moving the binding to the new top. I also duplicated the bracing from the old top on the new one. The result was pretty good, and I started playing.

The shop teacher didn't know about instrument wood, and after a few short weeks I awoke one morning to find that my new top had shrunk as the wood dried, and it no longer fit the instrument. I went without one for a couple years until I found an old flat top A style in a pawn shop for $20. A cool instrument - all mahogany with a strip of brass binding around the top (which I've never seen anywhere) - that I never should have sold, but I wanted one for playing bluegrass.

The bowlback? I put it in the basement, and 20 years later I discovered that the elevated humidity had caused the top to expand to its original fit. When the top had shrunk, I put a couple gouges in the top with a screwdriver in anger, so it needed to be replaced again. I sold the back and neck on ebay and moved on.

David Watson - Posted - 06/21/2014:  18:32:39

My first was a Pawn Shop Fender A/E 52E ($100) in February 2014 and I still play it as well as my Kentucky KM 505 and Gibson A 150 A/E. I rotate them and enjoy all.